1:00 PM in Aden
Houthis seize the Galaxy Leader, opening their Red Sea shipping campaign
ConfirmedShipping, energy & marketsBackgroundSouthern Red Sea, off Hodeidah, Yemen
Armed men rappelled from a helicopter onto the Bahamas-flagged, Japanese-operated cargo ship Galaxy Leader in the southern Red Sea off Yemen and seized it with its 25 crew, targeting it as an Israeli-linked ship over the Gaza war. It was the first of many Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping.
Why it matters The attacks that followed cut oil flows through the Bab el-Mandeb from 8.7 million barrels a day in 2023 to 4.0 million in early 2024 as tankers rerouted around Africa, the template now used to judge Hormuz risk.
Sources: CFR Yemen and Red Sea tracker, EIA Red Sea tanker analysis, NBC News, CBS News timeline